Tag Archives: tool

vnstat is a simple command line utility for monitoring bandwidth usage in Ubuntu or any other Linux based distributions and BSD. It’s a very handy tool for keeping an eye on overall bandwidth usage on your system, especially if you’re accessing web over mobile network or you’re using ISP that reduces speed after a certain limit e.g 50 GB (FUP).

Features

very lightweight and efficient (low cpu usage regardless of traffic)

simple and easy to use (no configuration required)

it can monitor multiple interfaces simultaneously

multiple output options (daily, monthly etc)

Installing vnstat in Ubuntu/Linux

It’s already there in official package repository, all you need to do is open a terminal and type :

sudo apt-get install vnstat

As you install vnstat, it will start monitoring your internet traffic (default interface : eth0). Simply type vnstat to get an overview of actual bandwidth usage and the estimated usage for next day or month. It will also display the interface(s) it’s monitoring.

Few weeks ago I created a tool : port checker – that checks for open ports. It’s a simple web app built using Sinatra (a lightweight framework in ruby) and Foundation (an advanced front end framework), over a weekend.

More about this little web app

It simply checks for open ports on your computer (useful in testing port forwarding setup or security reasons obviously). You need to specify the port number and IP Address (optional, it selects the origin IP by default, so it’s not required unless you want to scan for other device or server IP). Then it tells you whether the port is open or closed.

Later I also added a port scanner, so it can scan for some common ports (~20) in a single click. (However it restricts the IP address to origin to prevent any misuse)

Features

simple and easy to use

mobile friendly design (thanks to the Foundation framework)

online port scanner (I may add some other features like port range scan or so, based on the suggestions on HN)

Note : It’s a web app intended for casual use. If you need a more comprehensive tool for scanning ports or security audits, then you should check out Nmap (or Zenmap if you prefer to use graphical interface over the command line), a free and open source tool for network scanning.

PS If you find the tool useful or have any suggestion/feedback, let me know via comments.

In fact Ubuntu 10.04 or any other Linux based systems are not so vulnerable to viruses and worms because most of these malicious programs were developed for windows platform with .exe executables so they are harmless for ubuntu 10.04.One more fact is that,Ubuntu(or any GNU-Linux OS) security policy and strategy is very secure as compare to other operating system like windows and mac.So If you want to install antivirus software for scanning other media or other drives then Avast Antivirus is a good choice.
Avast antivirus has many edition like FREE,PRO and others but FREE edition is sufficient for common Internet users.

How to Install Avast Antivirus software on Ubuntu 10.04

1. Download avast(FREE Version) from its official website(click below on the download link and then a window will appear-save the .deb file on your computer).Download Avast for Ubuntu

2. Go to download(or other location where you have just downloaded the avast debian package );Then Open avast4workstation_1.3.0-2_i386.deb with Gdebi package Installer and then click on install Package.

3. Wait until the installation is complete(it will take less than a minute).

Play ARF file by Converting them to mp4
ARF i.e Advanced Recording Format is a format recorded by NBR(Network Based Recording).For Ubuntu or other Linux versions currently no player is available which can play .arf files i.e WebEx(Player used to play and convert arf and wrf formats) is not supported on Linux based system or Ubuntu 10.04.That’s why to play arf file only one option is available and that is to convert the arf format to mp4 or swf or other simple formats.So you can use a converter tool “NBR2MP4” to generate mp4(That we can play Using VLC player) file from arf.Playing ARF format by converting them to mp4 : Ubuntu 10.04 ,Linux based systems

NBR2MP4 is a simple tool and converter that can be used to convert arf formats to mp4 formats.You can install it from command line in few steps(It’s very simple).Download arf converter for Ubuntu 10.04 and other Linux distrosdownload nbr2mp4 for ubuntu

Install ARF converter on Ubuntu 10.04 or on linux

1. After downloading the nbr2mp4.tar file,extract it to any directory e.g extra_softwares.It will create a directory nbr2_mp4 and a script file nbr2mp4.sh.

2. Then Make the file nbr2mp4.sh executable by typing this command on the terminal-rkjha@rkjha-desktop:~/extra_softwares$ chmod +x ./nbr2mp4.sh

3. Next,Install the converter by typing the command-rkjha@rkjha-desktop:~/extra_softwares$ ./nbr2mp4.sh
Type the directory where you want to install the software[/home/rkjha/extra_softwares]:

Extracting files…
Installation is complete.

When it will ask “Type the directory where you want to install….” then just hit enter to install in the current directory(extra_softwares).

Converting ARF format to MP4: Ubuntu-Linux

Now,first go to the directory nbr_2mp4 created in extra_softwares(The Directory where you installed the nbr2mp4).next,use the following command to convert format-./nbr2mp4 SOURCE [MP4-DIRECTORY] [FPS]

Where SOURCE means the name of the arf file which you want to convert and don’t forget to specify pathname if it is in the different directory.MP4-DIRECTORY stands for the output file i.e filename.mp4,it’s name will be same as arf file except the extension of .mp4(Use ./ to generate in the same directory as of input file).In FPS(Frame Per Second) field you can specify between 3 to 10(Default value is 5).The quality of the mp4 file(output file) is directly proportional to the FPS.